Sambal

Sambal is a chili pepper condiment sauce that may also contain shallot, garlic, ginger, shrimp paste, or lime juice. Cooks use it raw, blend it into pastes, or use it to season stir-fries, rice, and noodles.

May contain shellfish
May contain crustaceans

About the plain ingredient, not packaged products; general information, not medical advice. Details

Category: Condiments & seasonings
Cooked most in: Asia
Top country: Indonesia
Dishes: 4 in the catalogue

Photo: Windi Utari · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

In the kitchen

How to use sambal

Typical ways to cook or use it

Paste blend
Raw
Season
Stir fry

Made from

chili pepper
shallot (sometimes)
garlic (sometimes)
galangal (sometimes)
ginger (sometimes)
shrimp paste (sometimes)
table salt (sometimes)
sugar (sometimes)
lime juice (sometimes)
tamarind (sometimes)
tomato (sometimes)

Preparing it

For versions with shrimp paste, fry or burn the paste first to bring out its aroma.

Cooking with it

Raw sambal is usually eaten immediately after mixing.

Goes well with

Shopping

Choosing and storing sambal

Keeping it

Fridge · whole

Sold as: Jarred
Availability: Supermarkets

Around the world

Where sambal is cooked

4 dishes in the catalogue use sambal. Here is where they come from.

Dishes by continent

Asia3

Countries whose dishes use it most

Indonesia 3

Counts are catalogued dishes from each country that list sambal among their ingredients.

On the table

Dishes made with sambal

3 of the 4 catalogued dishes that use it, spread across the countries they come from.

Nasi langgi
Indonesia
Sambal goreng
Indonesia
Nasi kucing
Indonesia

Dish lists come from Wikidata; a dish counts when its recorded ingredients include sambal.

Good to know

Diet and allergens: sambal in detail

These notes describe the plain ingredient. Packaged and prepared products vary, so read the label; for allergies and medical diets ask a doctor or dietitian.

Allergens: Sometimes crustaceans (only when the optional ingredient is used)
Animal origin: Sometimes shellfish (only when the optional ingredient is used)